Negative Exposure, a featured exhibition at Katzman Contemporary for the 2015 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, posits the gelatin silver print as a canvas for the creation of painterly photographs. It unveils the darkroom artistry of Randy Grskovic and Wil Murray by divulging their tactile treatment of the photographic negative, highlighting process over object. Both artists physically intervene with black-and-white film negatives by manipulating subject matter, and extending the interpretation of the image with additional layers of meaning. Accompanying this exhibition is a new series of digital photographs, Pairings, by Wyn Geleynse.

Katzman Contemporary has arranged for an ARTbus to transport visitors to our gallery for the opening reception. The ARTbus will depart from 401 Richmond Street on Saturday, May 2 at 5:00 p.m. Randy Grskovic will be documenting moments from the journey with Polaroid photographs. The cost for this one-way trip is $5. For those interested in taking a ride on the ARTbus, please RSVP by Thursday, April 30 to info@katzmancontemporary.com.

Randy Grskovic is a photographer with a painterly disposition. He “dodges and burns” in the darkroom; cutting and splicing found negatives with scotch tape to produce inimitable collage juxtapositions. In Grskovic’s own words: “I make some stylistic cuts depending on the mood that the image projects to me, which is essentially a projection of myself onto the image. It’s an anonymous collaboration. The document is now skewed. The memory has changed and so has the document. The photograph, as well as any other document, is never an accurate depiction of the truth.” By problematizing representation and making its process transparent, he establishes a dialogue between what is considered real, and one’s propensity to idealize that reality. For a brief introduction to Grskovic’s “dodge and burn” technique, please view this short documentary video produced by Kit and Ace. Grskovic is also showing another body of work for CONTACT, Demi-Vérité, in the Gallery 44 Members’ Gallery from May 1 to 16.

Wil Murray is a painter with a newfound yen in photography. He uses analog photography to document idyllic natural vistas. Responding to the question “why analog photography,” Murray says: “I can only see it as closer to painting. Made closer by its digital twin. Forced closer by being dear in comparison to digital’s cheapness. Painting is a process of dear objects manipulating dear materials to make more dear objects. Analog photography is now the same. Both involve a labour that is felt in the hands the next day and economics that are felt in one’s empty pockets.” Using photographic oils, he paints directly onto the surface of the negative, and tints the gelatin silver print, working interchangeably between original plates and large format reproductions. His interest in painting has expanded from a practice of performed modernism, to the maintenance of the performance and its reception by viewers in person and in those in absentia, mediated by the camera’s lens. Wil Murray is represented by p|m Gallery, Toronto and VITRINE, London.

WYN GELEYNSE

Wyn Geleynse, Pairing 24, digital photograph, 16” x 20”, 2015

Wyn Geleynse’s latest series of photographs, Pairings, occurred by happenstance, after cleaning the dust from the CCD on his digital camera (a task not previously possible to be completed by oneself). To test the quality of the cleaning job, Geleynse randomly took some photos of stuff strewn around the studio against a white backdrop to duplicate the circumstances that revealed the dust issue. At the same time, he was calibrating his printer, and made some small prints that he left out to dry overnight. The next morning, Geleynse noticed that two of these prints conversed with each other in a manner that underlines his proclivity for innuendo and suggestion through humour. As he developed the series, the pieces progressed into complex allusions to potential situations or narratives that reflects Geleynse’s earlier film and video work. Wyn Geleynse is represented by Katzman Contemporary, Toronto and TrépanierBaer Gallery, Calgary.

For additional information, or to inquire about this exhibition, preview opportunities, and/or general gallery questions, please contact us at info@katzmancontemporary.com.

Randy Grskovic’s exhibition is presented with the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council.